Dokument #1281887
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Since the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)
mounted a successful offensive against the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in their base of Jaffna in October 1987,
allegations have been made that the IPKF employed members of rival
Tamil militant groups to identify LTTE members during its mopping
up operations. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International
Statement on the Situation in Sir Lanka with Respect to the Return
of Tamils to Sri Lanka, (London: August 1988), p. 3.] Suspected
LTTE cadres were reported to have been brought before hooded
members of the "Three Star" movement for purposes of identification
and detention. [Ibid.] In the eastern region of the country,
members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front(EPRLF)
were reported to have assisted the IPKF in screening operations at
its checkpoints. [Brian Johnson, "Bottled Up: Tamil Landmines Keep
Indian Soldiers Off Road," The Globe and Mail, [Toronto], 13
January 1988.]
Violence between rival Tamil militant groups which erupted
immediately following the signing of the Indo-Sri Lankan Peace
Accord on 29 July 1987 should be viewed in the context of
long-standing hostilities that developed long before the Accord. In
May 1986, the LTTE launched an offensive against the Tamil Eelam
Liberation Organization(TELO), killing 150 of its members. [ M.R.
Narayanswamy, "Tamil Militant Factions Battle," India
Abroad, New York: 17 June 1988, p. 14.] Later the same year the
LTTE "banned" the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam
(PLOTE) and fought pitched battles with the EPRLF. [Ibid.]
In the wake of the Accord, the LTTE renewed its attempts to crush
its rivals. [ "Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers Vow to Crush Guerrilla
Infighting," The Globe and Mail, [Toronto], 14 December
1987.] Several of the militant groups which had accepted the
Accord, the EPRLF, TELO, and the ENDLF in particular, collaborated
militarily , rendering the LTTE's offensives unsuccessful. ["
Factions Battle."]
In November 1988, an EPRLF - ENDLF coalition won a majority of
seats in the elections to the newly constituted Northeastern
Provincial Council and formed a government. [ "The Tamils Defy the
Tigers," The Economist, London: 26 November 1988, pp.32-34.]
With its election, the EPRLF was able to gain military control of
the Jaffna peninsula, the former LTTE stronghold. In the weeks
preceding national parliamentary elections held on 15 February
1989, large numbers of active and former militants were reported
killed in violent confrontations after approximately 300 LTTE
members were detected infiltrating the Jaffna peninsula. [ "Faith,
Hope and Charity," Asiaweek, (Hong Kong: 17 February 1989),
p. 26. ] The present EPRLF dominated government is in the process
of constituting a 7,000 member provincial volunteer force, as well
as a 6,000 member police force. [Foreign Broadcast Information
Service, Daily Report: Near East and South Asia, (Washington: 28
February 1989), p. 79.] The actual composition of these forces has
not yet been determined.
See Attachments
Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
Daily Report: Near East and South Asia. Washington: 28 February and
9 March 1989.
M.R. Narayanswamy. "Tamil Militant
Factions Battle," in India Abroad. 17 June 1988 "Faith, Hope and
Charity," Asiaweek. Hong Kong: 17 February 1989.
"The Tamils Defy the Tigers," in The
Economist, London: 26 November 1988. The Globe and Mail,
14 December 1987 and 13 January 1988.
Amnesty International. Amnesty
International Statement on the Situation in Sri Lanka with
Respect to the Return of Tamils to Sri Lanka. London: August
1988.
Endnotes